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Director Tim Burton has been honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival.

Actor Johnny Depp, who has starred in many of Burton’s films including Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, presented the award.

“This is very special to me. It’s the best honour I’ve ever received and it just inspires me to keep going,” Burton said.

And he joked that the award was better than an Oscar statuette: “It’s actually a lot more beautiful-looking than a bald, naked man.”

Burton is currently filming new musical Sweeney Todd, in which Depp plays the demon barber of Fleet Street.

The movie is to be given an R-rating in the US because of its gory content, meaning those aged 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

“I’m trying to make an old-fashioned horror movie with music. I don’t think there are any R-rated musicals out there so it will be interesting to see how it’s received,” Burton said.

“I’m really enjoying making it. It’s a great challenge for me. I’m still working on it and I’m always hesitant to say it’s comedic or dramatic before it’s finished, in case I say it’s a comedy and people don’t laugh, or I say it’s dramatic and people do laugh.”

Sweeney Todd also stars Burton’s partner, British actress Helena Bonham Carter, who is expecting the couple’s second child.

Burton is the youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award and the film festival organisers hailed him as a “visionary artist who puts fantasy and imagination at the centre of modern film-making”.